718 ON THE CULTIVATION OF THE POPPY. 



fertilising manure). By the month of March the capsules are 

 developed, and, incisions being made, the juice exudes, and is 

 collected before sunrise in flat shells. By the month of April 

 the Poppy crop is over^ and the ground ploughed up for the use 

 of paddy. 



Seven or eight applications of liquid manure are required, and 

 about 500 lbs. of oil cake per acre, the total cost being about 6?. 

 per acre, or, in Chinese measure, 3 taels per hide, the former 

 being about 20 shillings, and the latter one-sixth of an acre. 



The total return last year might be estimated, including tJie 

 sale of seed, at about 20 taels per hide (40Z, per acre), showing 

 a return of from 20 to 300 per cent, cleared byHhe cultivators last 



year on their outlay. 



Seed from the Sin-trevei district is ^vorth in price one and a 

 half times its weight in silver — that is, two ounces weight of seed 

 costs three ounces weight of silver. 



The drawback to an extended cultivation of the Poppy will proba- 

 bly be the amount of labour required, as constant attention is found 

 necessary; but the great advantage on the other hand is, that 

 three crops can now be obtained from the land — two of Rice 

 between April and November, and one of Opium during the inter- 

 vening winter months. What exhaustive effects such a constant 

 succession of crops would have on the soil, does not seem to enter 

 into the calculation of the Chinese farmers, relying, as they do, 

 on the abundant use of manures of every kind, and the return 

 thereby made to the land. 



